Our bespoke "BREATHE" mental health and employability courses have been developed to enhance the health and well-being of the local people in St. Helens struggling with mild to moderate mental health issues such as depression, stress and anxiety.

The BREATHE Programme is a free course for adults aged over 18. Classes are weekly and last up to 3 hours.

We strongly believe in delivering the course in a safe and comfortable environment and the course is delivered at the Hope Centre, and is designed to support a small group of learners.

Breathe Mental Health Course is an 8 week course covering the following elements:

Positive Self-Esteem and Confidence - Perfect for those who need a little or a lot more confidence.

Here we look to understand what confidence is and where it comes from. How external influences affect self-esteem and confidence. The pace of this session is set to suit the group. We identify fears and work to overcome them and learn and practice confidence,self-esteem building techniques and how to manage and cope in difficult/long-term situations. We also work on how to exercise the mind.

Ambition: Goal Setting Toolkit - This is an extension of the Positive Self-Esteem and Confidence.

These sessions provide you with the practical and personal applications of setting and achieving your own personal goals.

From this course we aim to identify, relevant opportunities, sources of help and information and any contributing factors that may impact on personal progress. We learn what self-awareness is and an understanding of current situations. We also work to formulate ideas for possible goals and explaining how this relates to personal achievements. Finally, we construct a comprehensive action plan to assist in achieving goals in their everyday lives.

Assertiveness Toolkit Session - This an extension of the Positive Self-Esteem and Confidence.

The aim of these sessions is to build effective communication skills helping you be confident in expressing yourself, respond to others and gain a positive outcome.

From this part of the course we look at what assertiveness is and where its purpose and how to choose the right assertive approach when affected by others. We identifying different behavioural types and how to deal with aggressive and abusive people. We also teach how to give and receive compliments and how say "no" assertively to achieve the required outcome. We also learn and practice assertive techniques in all types of situations.

Breathe Employability Courseis a 10 week course covering the Mental Health content (6 weeks) with a further 4 weeks IT

IT Sessions

The 4 weekly IT sessions are learner led and support the IT novice to explore the digital world and for those who are more proficient job searches can be made and help given with CVs too

"When I first started I was apprehensive about the course and wondered how it would really benefit me. Once I attended the first class, my anxiety went down, I discovered the other attendees were nice and friendly and the teacher was easy to talk to and trust. I was a little concerned initially about the course content and whether t was going to have a positive effect but I persevered and found that each week was something to look forward to. The course gave me motivation to wake up early on that specific day which was one of the best in terms of how I felt, my energy, my alertness and my social skills. At the end I felt more comfortable speaking in front of strangers and can actually think about the future positively." - Breathe Course Learner

If interested in attending this course, please call John or Sarah at The Hope Centre 01744 26414 to find out more.